TEHRAN, December 9 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Journalists from the United States visiting Iran will, from Monday, December 9, be fingerprinted on entry in a tit-for-tat response to harsh new U.S. immigration checks.

"The measure, which goes into effect today, follows a letter by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and only includes American journalists," said army information official General Hamid-Reza Hossein Abadi, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

On Friday, December 6, Iran's Culture Ministry, upset at tough new U.S. immigration regulations, urged the police to fingerprint U.S. journalists entering the country.

"Considering the recent insults by U.S. government officials towards Iranian nationals ... , please order the fingerprinting of U.S. journalists entering Iran, except for those exempted upon the ministry's written order", Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Ahmad Masjed Jameiee wrote in a letter to police.

Jameiee also called for measures "to oblige the U.S. journalists to fill in forms which include full personal details, the purpose of the trip, the number of trips (to Iran), contact addresses and phone numbers in Iran" as well as descriptions of Iranian institutes assisting them.

The measure comes in retaliation for the tough new U.S. immigration procedures hitting Iranian travelers, notably Iranian journalists and artists, the letter said.

However, an editorial in the Jomhuri-Eslami newspaper said the measures did not go far enough, arguing that British nationals should also receive the same treatment.

As part of its post-September 11 security measures, the United States began photographing and fingerprinting visitors from five Muslim countries considered by the State Department to be sponsors of terrorism.

The program currently applies to nationals of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria.

In a high-profile case surrounding the new measures, Iranian state TV documentary filmmaker and journalist Hossein Dehbashi was recently barred from the United States and handcuffed for 10 hours by U.S. immigration officials, even though he had a valid U.S. visa and invitation.

The United States has also recently refused visas to award-winning movie directors Abbas Kiarostami and Bahman Ghobadi, even though the pair had been invited to attend film festivals.

Tehran has angrily denounced as an "insult" the U.S. decision to start fingerprinting and photographing Iranians and citizens of a number of other Muslim states entering the country.

According to the department of press affairs at the Ministry of Culture, there were 94 foreign press organizations represented in Iran, while every year some 800 foreign journalists visit the Islamic republic.